We noted in the introduction to the Book of Vayikra that it contains the commandments pertaining to all the Festivals. One unique commandment, however, does not relate to a Festival itself, but to the transitional period between Pesach and Shavuot:
“And you shall count for yourselves, from the morrow of the rest day, from the day you bring the omer as a wave offering, seven weeks; they shall be complete” (Vayikra 23:15).
At the close of the first day of Pesach, the Children of Israel would harvest and prepare barley. On the second day, they brought a barley offering—the omer—to the Beit HaMikdash. That same evening, they began a sacred count: forty-nine days until Shavuot. Today, even without the Beit HaMikdash, we continue to count those days, marking each step on the journey from redemption to revelation.
Why this count? What are we marking?
Our sages teach: Derech eretz kadma laTorah—ethical conduct must precede Torah learning. A slave nation, recently freed, was not yet prepared to become a nation of G-d. They needed time to transform, to internalize the values that would make them worthy of receiving the Torah.
The Midrash presents a parable: A king visited the prisons of his realm and took notice of a noble prisoner. “I will release you today,” the king said, “and introduce you to my daughter. If you are compatible, the wedding will be in seven weeks.”
Why not marry immediately? Because the former prisoner must first learn palace etiquette—how to walk, speak, and live like royalty.
In this parable, the king is G-d, the release is the Exodus, and the wedding is the giving of the Torah. The seven weeks in between are a time of spiritual refinement.
Moshe Rabbeinu used these weeks to teach the people. Every day brought growth, every day another trait polished. Israel was no longer in bondage—but not yet ready for Sinai.
Each day of the Omer count corresponds to a particular middah, a personal quality. Over the seven weeks, we refine 49 aspects of character:
Week 1: Chesed — Lovingkindness
Week 2: Gevurah — Discipline and restraint
Week 3: Tiferes — Harmony and balance
(and so on through Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut, as understood in Kabbalistic tradition)
Just as the Israelites counted the days in anticipation, so must we. Each day is an opportunity to reflect, to elevate, to prepare ourselves for Torah.
As the Haggadah teaches: “In every generation, a person must see himself as if he personally came out of Egypt.” G-d redeemed not just our ancestors, but each of us.
And so we count: not simply numbers, but steps. From servitude to self-mastery. From Egypt to Sinai. From barley to holiness. And at the end, we arrive at Shavuot, prepared—like our forebears—to receive the Torah anew.
Copyright© 2023 by The LaMaalot Foundation. Talks on the Torah, by Rabbi Yitzchak Zilber is catalogued at The Library of Congress. All rights reserved.
From Slavery To Sinai: Preparing For The Torah Through The Omer
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